Nov 2 - 11 (A long post because of my pending departure)
Well this week was rather wild, trying to get the new employee trained and my own life sorted out as far as packing and the up coming trip. June my replacement took to the office really well and was happy to watch classes and soak up all the info we could give her and hear about all that Korea has in store for her. The better part of my classes this week went by just fine and the kids both enjoyed and were saddened by my up coming departure.
The week went by and I can't think of any things taht I did that stood out from the ordinary. I was still at teh elementary school, being asked who my replacement was; to which I answered "I don't know because its not my job to know". When Friday came around some of the Korean teachers wanted to go out for some dinner and drinks after work, so we went to a sam-gyup-sal place to eat and drink soju. Jameson and Brian joined us, and I proceeded to party and drink soju. By the time we finished dinner and had made it to another bar to have some drinks I was half drunk, and proceeded to get blackout drunk. I don't remember a thing, but there are photos out there that show what an abomination I turned into. C'est la vie, or so I thought.
On Saturday I woke up late and met my tutor 30 minutes late but stayed extra long to make up for it. After that I went home and slept all afternoon to gather my strength for the going away party we had planned for Saturday night at Gold Bar. We started at the Wine Buffet at 7 and then moved to Gold Bar at 9:30. After we got there, our friends started showing up, and the list is too long to put down. We proceeded again to drink copious amounts of whiskey until yet again I was blackout drunk and had to be shipped home.
When I woke up Sunday afternoon, I felt unlike myself and like my very being had been beaten with a spiked bat. I rested up during the day and then met with Dave, Kate, Brian, and Jameson for all you could eat steak in Apgujong. It was delicious and we ate more than our share. After that we all returned home to get some semblance of our lives.
Monday was back to the grind, with June teaching and me watching, to give feedback. She did well and it gave me time to sort through and mark things while on break instead of preparing for classes. After work on Monday, Margaret came over to help me pack, because apparently I am useless when I come to packing anything other than a truck with tools. We managed to get all my odds and ends packed up in one case, and all but some clothes I had drying packed into another, which took a huge load off my mind. Tuesday was spent looking for the pension office and getting Goah her shots before I left so that she can come back to Canada with me then I went to work and spent several hours marking essays.
A sleepless night later, it was Wednesday, which happened to be Pepero Day in Korea. Pepero Day falls on Nov 11 (11/11) because there are these chocolate covered bread sticks called pepero that look like ones. So, on the day, you have to give them to your friends or the person you like. On a side note, before work I had to take Goah to Blake's, where she will be staying until I return. I bought a ton for my kids and received a ton from them. As well as pepero, I received several good-bye notes and such from the kids, which was really sweet and heart breaking. AND THEN, it was time to go home and my time was officially up at Avalon. We had some cake and I gave a little speech and then took off to take my bike to Arthur's and meet some people in Sincheon for a last drink because several of them will have gone back to the U.S. by the time I get back.
After another sleepless night of last minute cleaning and organizing Jameson and I were officially off this morning at 7 am for our adventure. This means I will be off the map fora while but can't wait to see you all and tell you about my trip. Take care, lots of love, and see you soon.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Happy Halloween and Welcome Newbie
Oct 26 - Nov 1
Well here we go again.
This week was as crazy a week as I have had yet I think. Between running back and forth to the elementary school, trying to get through my grading, thinking about what I'm going to do with all my stuff, and getting a new arrival at our school; I was stretched a little thin.
This week was put me at less than 15 teaching days left and left me feeling kind of weird, because as much as I am looking forward to my upcoming vacation, I am going to miss my kids and some parts of my job. Either way, it is an inevitability and with that comes my replacement. She, named June, a Korean-American from California, showed up on Wednesday a full two weeks before I leave. This is incredibly unusual, because replacement teachers usually show up under one week before they have to start teaching. In June's case, it is because of the H1N1 policy that was lifted before she came here, which meant she didn't have to spend time in quarantine. Her appearance threw us off because we were not ready for here and had not prepared all the things we had wanted to before she got here. None the less we took her in as we were took in, maybe even better, and started slowly introducing her to the job and the company. I think she will be just fine.
The rest of the week was not that happening, we waited for Friday and payday before doing much with ourselves. Once Friday came around, Margaret and I went to a costume shop to grab something to wear for Halloween at school. Though none of the kids dressed up because it isn't a big deal around here, they loved seeing us dressed up and with candy in hand. At the elementary school I got the kids to power though the work and then we made Halloween masks out of paper plates and other craft materials for fun. They absolutely loved it but had a hard time understanding the
relationship between glue needing to try and being able to pick our mask up. Repeatedly they would place the stuff on the paper plate and pick it up to show me, only to have it fall off. We all laughed and had a great time.
After work on Friday, I took it easy and hung out with a few people from the elementary school at Zenia's. Though I didn't drink much, I stayed up late and was tired Saturday when I had to tutor. After tutoring I came home and relaxed for the afternoon before gong out.
Saturday night, even though it was Halloween, we went to Apgujong to have a going away party for Gina, Junk's girlfriend, who is going to study in Australia for the next year. We hopped across a couple of our favorite places and had a great time, but eventually Jameson and I split off and went to Monkey Beach to see some people in costumes and hear some loud music. We left Apgujong around 4 am and I got to bed some time after 6.
Getting to sleep so late meant that I woke up late for the brunch plans I had. I was suppose to go to a Korean coworkers house with Margaret for 12, but never woke up until 11:30. Luckily when I called Margaret she was just getting up too, so we were both late. We showed up for lunch an hour late, which worked out great because Katie and her new husband Yong-Hyawg were running late too. We had some pasta and pizza, and drank some super strong liqueur from their honeymoon to Italy, after which we went and walked around a park for a bit.
After the park, I went to meet Jameson, Kate, and Dave for dinner and trivia. Unfortunately is was cancelled and we were 'forced' to sit around and drink instead. Eventually we had enough talking and headed out on the subway so that we could all get home to rest up for the coming week.
Well here we go again.
This week was as crazy a week as I have had yet I think. Between running back and forth to the elementary school, trying to get through my grading, thinking about what I'm going to do with all my stuff, and getting a new arrival at our school; I was stretched a little thin.
This week was put me at less than 15 teaching days left and left me feeling kind of weird, because as much as I am looking forward to my upcoming vacation, I am going to miss my kids and some parts of my job. Either way, it is an inevitability and with that comes my replacement. She, named June, a Korean-American from California, showed up on Wednesday a full two weeks before I leave. This is incredibly unusual, because replacement teachers usually show up under one week before they have to start teaching. In June's case, it is because of the H1N1 policy that was lifted before she came here, which meant she didn't have to spend time in quarantine. Her appearance threw us off because we were not ready for here and had not prepared all the things we had wanted to before she got here. None the less we took her in as we were took in, maybe even better, and started slowly introducing her to the job and the company. I think she will be just fine.
The rest of the week was not that happening, we waited for Friday and payday before doing much with ourselves. Once Friday came around, Margaret and I went to a costume shop to grab something to wear for Halloween at school. Though none of the kids dressed up because it isn't a big deal around here, they loved seeing us dressed up and with candy in hand. At the elementary school I got the kids to power though the work and then we made Halloween masks out of paper plates and other craft materials for fun. They absolutely loved it but had a hard time understanding the
relationship between glue needing to try and being able to pick our mask up. Repeatedly they would place the stuff on the paper plate and pick it up to show me, only to have it fall off. We all laughed and had a great time.After work on Friday, I took it easy and hung out with a few people from the elementary school at Zenia's. Though I didn't drink much, I stayed up late and was tired Saturday when I had to tutor. After tutoring I came home and relaxed for the afternoon before gong out.
Saturday night, even though it was Halloween, we went to Apgujong to have a going away party for Gina, Junk's girlfriend, who is going to study in Australia for the next year. We hopped across a couple of our favorite places and had a great time, but eventually Jameson and I split off and went to Monkey Beach to see some people in costumes and hear some loud music. We left Apgujong around 4 am and I got to bed some time after 6.
Getting to sleep so late meant that I woke up late for the brunch plans I had. I was suppose to go to a Korean coworkers house with Margaret for 12, but never woke up until 11:30. Luckily when I called Margaret she was just getting up too, so we were both late. We showed up for lunch an hour late, which worked out great because Katie and her new husband Yong-Hyawg were running late too. We had some pasta and pizza, and drank some super strong liqueur from their honeymoon to Italy, after which we went and walked around a park for a bit.
After the park, I went to meet Jameson, Kate, and Dave for dinner and trivia. Unfortunately is was cancelled and we were 'forced' to sit around and drink instead. Eventually we had enough talking and headed out on the subway so that we could all get home to rest up for the coming week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)